1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless charging, and more specifically, to a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo Integrated Circuit that can be applied in a wireless charging field.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standards have been recently determined to be employed for signaling in Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) in relation to the resonance type wireless charging technology. Accordingly, a BLE (e.g., Bluetooth (BT) 4.0 standards) single Integrated Circuit (IC) or a Wi-Fi/BT 4.0 combo IC may be used according to user's preference, as long as the signaling follows the BLE standards.
However, an interface (I/F) of existing Wi-Fi/BT combo ICs are too complex to be used in signaling for wireless charging. The Wi-Fi/BT combo IC is dominated by an Application Processor (AP). However, when performing wireless charging, control operations are performed and data is transmitted/received in an order of control operations performed by the AP, the Wi-Fi/BT combo IC, and a wireless charging power IC.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a conventional terminal having a wireless charging device. Referring to FIG. 1, when the wireless charging device is installed within a terminal 10 such that a back cover 15 having a resonator 14 therein is mounted to the terminal 10, a separate Integrated Circuit (IC) (i.e., a BLE unit IC 16 or a Wi-Fi/BT combo IC 17) is used for BLE signaling.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of another conventional terminal having a wireless charging device. As illustrated in FIG. 2, an existing Wi-Fi/BT combo IC 19 employed for a terminal 20 may be embedded in the terminal 20 and used instead of a BLE unit IC 18. When the Wi-Fi/BT combo IC 19 is used, wireless charging cannot be performed in a state in which the terminal 20 is turned off regardless of the presence of a back cover 15 having a resonator therein.
In general, in a case of a single combo chip in which Wi-Fi, BT, etc. are implemented, among a Bluetooth core and a Wi-Fi core, the Wi-Fi core operates as a master core. Thus, the Wi-Fi core consuming a large amount of power should be driven for BT and BLE communication. In addition, BT and BLE profiles required for the BT and BLE communication exist in a stack within an Application Processor (AP), and therefore wireless charging through the BT and BLE communication cannot be performed until the AP is driven. Namely, the wireless charging cannot be performed in the dead battery situation in which the AP cannot be driven.